


Bake and Shake

by bertee



Category: Supernatural RPF
Genre: Baking, M/M, Schmoop
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-11-10
Updated: 2012-11-10
Packaged: 2017-12-03 11:31:00
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,905
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/697794
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bertee/pseuds/bertee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Baker!JDM rescues stranded!Jensen after his car breaks down. Together they <s>fight crime</s> bake cupcakes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bake and Shake

**Author's Note:**

> Written for spn_reversebang to accompany beelikej's [amazing artwork](http://beelikej.livejournal.com/392221.html).

Wet gravel crunched beneath Jeff's tires as his truck rolled to a stop.

The rain was coming down hard, sluicing across the windscreen in sheets, but even through the downpour, he could make out the flash of the emergency lights from the car at the side of the road. The only glimpse he'd had of the driver had been a waving silhouette against the beam of his headlights and so he rested his forearms on the wheel as he peered out in search of the driver in distress.

If the guy turned out to be a serial killer, Jeff was ninety percent sure he could take him. He'd had a lot of caffeine that afternoon.

When a shadowy figure suddenly appeared in front of his truck, he decided to blame the caffeine for how much it made him jump. 

The figure gave him a quick wave but then hurried around to the driver's window before Jeff had chance to head outside. It was a guy, Jeff noted as he got closer, tall, clean-shaven and younger than him by a good few years, but Jeff was pleased to note that he looked more like a drowned rat than a serial killer. 

His hooded jacket was zipped up as high as it would go but when Jeff rolled the window down, he couldn't help but notice that the kid was still soaked through. He hadn't known it was possible to get that wet while wearing a raincoat.

"H-Hey," the guy said through chattering teeth. "Any c-chance I could borrow your phone?"

Jeff winced inwardly. It was bad enough breaking down in the middle of nowhere but running out of battery at the same time was a crappy stroke of luck.

"Sure," he said, grabbing his phone out of the console. The kid's hands were shaking when he slid them out of his pockets and Jeff only hesitated for a second before asking, "You wanna come sit inside?"

The kid's head snapped up at that and Jeff held up his hands, speaking loudly over the hammering rain, "I'm not gonna do anything to you. It's just warmer in here and it's gotta be easier to make a call when you can hear something 'sides the rain."

The kid eyed him for a long moment. Jeff might've been annoyed by the suspicion if the poor guy didn't look so bedraggled. As it was, he'd seen stray dogs which looked less pathetic and so he couldn't help but smile when the guy finally nodded. "T-Thanks."

"No problem," Jeff said honestly, rolling his window back up and leaning across the seats to open the passenger door. The squelch of soaked feet in wet boots was audible as the kid climbed in and Jeff took the opportunity to get a better look at him while he settled himself in the seat beside him.

Even with his hair plastered to his forehead and dark circles under his eyes, he was a good-looking guy. A little older than Jeff's first guess, late-twenties rather than early, but a lot prettier than he'd allowed in his initial assessment.

"I'm Jeff," he said, holding out his hand. "Jeff Morgan."

The guy's fingers were cold and clammy under his. "Jensen Ackles."

"I know this isn't exactly the best of circumstances," he said with a nod outside, "but good to meet you, Jensen."

That got a small smile as he looked out through Jeff's rain-streaked windscreen, and Jeff pushed further. "So what happened? Your car break down?"

Huddled in on himself in the warmth of the car, Jensen nodded. "Yeah. It's a piece of shit at the best of times but I guess driving all day was the final straw." He smiled dryly. "Who needs a car that actually moves, right?"

"And your cell?"

"Battery died a couple of hours before I broke down," he said bitterly. "Today's full of awesome luck."

His stomach chose that moment to grumble loudly and Jeff smiled when he saw the first hint of color in Jensen's cheek. "Sorry," he mumbled. "I- It's been a long day. A really long, really shitty day."

"I guess your luck could be worse," Jeff said, leaning over the back of the seats. "You could've been picked up by someone who didn't have leftover brownies in his truck."

Jensen's eyes went wide when Jeff set the tupperware box on the console and Jeff almost laughed at the way his tongue darted out to wet his lips when he popped the lid open to reveal a stack of messily cut brownies.

"This is a really bad idea," Jensen said, not taking his eyes off the brownies. "I've seen this PSA."

Jeff grinned. "They're not drugged," he promised. "Or at least I really hope they're not, seeing as how I spent the day selling ten-dozen of them at a school fair." Reaching back, he tugged off a business card that was taped to an empty container. "See, I got cards and everything."

Jensen smiled when Jeff passed him the card. "Nice hat."

"I hear it brings out my eyes." He patted the box of brownies. "I'm not gonna forcefeed you but the brownies are there if you want one. And here," he said, offering his phone, "call who you need to."

Jensen's gaze lingered on the brownies but he reached for the phone first. "Thanks."

Ideally, Jeff would've given him some privacy but with the rain still pouring outside, the most he could do was to check through his order sheets while Jensen dialed the number.

Fortunately for him (and unfortunately for Jensen), he didn't need to keep himself distracted for long when Jensen slumped in the seat. "Fuck." He let his hand drop back to his lap as he looked over to Jeff. "The number's been disconnected."

Jeff raised his eyebrows. "For triple-A?"

Jensen looked guilty at that. "I- I don't have triple-A right now," he said. "There was a break-up and some issues with the policy and-" He stopped himself. "I was trying to call my friend but apparently his line's down and I can't remember his cell number." He scrubbed a hand over his face. "Fuck. I'm sorry."

"Not a problem," Jeff said, but frowned when Jensen reached for the door. "Where are you going?"

Jensen wiped away the rainwater that trickled down from his wet hair. "To sleep in my car," he said, dejected. "I'll go find a mechanic when it's light out."

"Wait." Jensen looked back at him, confused, and Jeff shook his head. "C'mon, kid, you can't spend the whole night out there."

"Kid?"

Jeff ignored the amused protest. "Where are you headed?"

"Silverdale?" Jensen said. "It shouldn't be far from here. I got a friend living there but I guess he hasn't been that great at paying his telephone bill lately."

"In that case your luck's definitely improved," Jeff said with a grin. "You wanna take a look at that business card again?"

Jensen's brow creased in confusion and looked down to where Jeff's card rested on top of the brownies. "I don't-" Realization dawned and he looked up in disbelief. "Wait, you live in Silverdale too?"

"Yep." Stupidly relieved that the guy wouldn't be spending the night in his car, Jeff went through the formalities anyway. "I'm headed home right now. I can give you a ride and help you track down your friend? There's room in the back for your gear and I can ask a mechanic to come out and take a look at your car in the morning."

Jensen hesitated. "I can't…"

"If it helps, I'm not gonna let you sleep out here all night," he said firmly. He'd become immune to Bisou's pouty face -- he wasn't about to cave with Jensen. "It's no trouble. Scout's honor."

Jensen's smile was skeptical. "You were a Boy Scout?"

"Sure was." He decided Jensen didn't need to know that his scouting career had lasted approximately four months and had ended with him getting caught in a tent with another scout's sister. Sixteen had been an interesting age. "So you going to let me give you a ride into town or do I need to break out the leftover snickerdoodles as bribes?"

Despite the rain pounding on the roof, Jeff was pretty sure he heard Jensen whimper at the prospect of snickerdoodles.

"Okay," he relented. "But I'll pay you back for everything. Gas, food, all of it."

There was no way Jeff would be accepting any kind of payment but as Jensen seemed to be set on the compromise, he opted to pick his battles. 

"Deal," he lied. "Now come on, let's get your stuff loaded up and I'll see if I can track down those snickerdoodles."

  


It didn't take long to get everything from Jensen's car into Jeff's truck.

There was enough of it to suggest a permanent move rather than a vacation but not as much as Jeff would've expected for someone's whole life packed up in the back of an old Toyota Camry. They didn't talk much as they loaded the truck up -- being slammed with wind and rain from all sides didn't exactly aid the flow of conversation -- but from the earlier mention of a break-up and the scribbled out writing on the side of the boxes, it wasn't much of a leap to assume that things had ended badly with Jensen's previous living situation.

By the time they both made it back inside the truck, Jeff's jeans were drenched from the knees downward and his hands were stiff with cold. His coat seemed to have provided better protection than Jensen's, however, and he cranked the heating up as Jensen shivered in the passenger seat.

Silverdale wasn't far and so Jeff opted to leave the radio off instead of letting the music fight against the noise of the rain. The wind roared past as they drove, punctuated by the steady whoosh of Jeff's wipers, and he risked a glance over to Jensen as he asked, "Who's your friend?"

"Friend?"

Jensen's voice was full of sleepy confusion and Jeff almost regretted tugging him back to wakefulness.

"Your friend in town. The one without a working phone."

"Oh." Jensen rubbed his eyes with the heel of his hand and sat up straighter in the seat. "Jared Padalecki? I'm really hoping there aren't that many Padaleckis in the phone book."

Jeff smiled. "More than you'd think. But I know Jared. He's a good guy."

"Yeah, he is." 

Jensen's lack of hesitation made Jeff want to push further, dig a little deeper into their apparent past together, but he soon decided it wasn't the time.

"He doesn't live far," he said. "Not that anyone lives far away in Silverdale. It's not what you'd call a big place."

He caught the amused huff of breath from the other side of the car. "A small town sounds like just what I need right now," Jensen said, tucking himself up in his sodden coat. "Turns out the big city life doesn't agree with me."

"You driving down from Seattle?"

Jensen shook his head. "New York."

Jeff whistled. "That's a hell of a way."

Out of the corner of his eyes, he could see Jensen's rueful smile. "Tell me about it. I think my car just quit in protest."

His sentence slid into a barely disguised yawn and Jeff glanced over in concern. It was too dark to get a good look at his face but from the way his head was drooping, it was a fair bet that he wouldn't last another five miles.

"Hey," he said gently. "We're only about twenty minutes out. You can sleep if you want but I got plenty of sugary snacks if you wanna try to stay awake."

"Sorry," Jensen said, scrubbing a hand over his face and reaching for the bag of snickerdoodles now nestled near the armrest. "I didn't mean to fall asleep on you."

His hands were shaking as he held up a snickerdoodle to take a bite and Jeff pressed his foot a fraction harder on the gas. 

Jared was a good kid and he knew Jensen would be well looked after, but as he watched Jensen drift off to sleep in the passenger seat, that knowledge wasn't quite enough to tamp down his own care-taking urges.

He couldn't even bring himself to be offended that the handmade snickerdoodle hadn't managed to keep him awake.

  


Jared's house was on the outskirts of town. As much as Silverdale had 'outskirts', anyway.

It was a tiny, cosy place, with crooked drainpipes and maroon windowframes, but the size of the yard more than compensated for the undersized house. It stretched backward towards the trees and the creek at the edge of the property and as Jeff waited on Jared's doorstep, he was half-convinced he could hear the burble of the stream beneath the rain.

As always, Jared launched into conversation before he'd even opened the door the entire way. "Hey, Morgan! You bring me some more of those shortcake things I-"

He stopped mid-sentence when he saw who was actually at his door.

"Jensen?" Apparently forgetting all about the prospect of 'shortcake things', Jared dove forward to pull Jensen into a very enthusiastic hug. "Man, it's good to see you."

Jensen flailed for a moment under the strength of the hug but glanced in Jeff's direction with an embarrassed smile as he hugged him back. "Good to see you too."

"I didn't think you'd actually come," Jared said, giving Jensen's shoulder a squeeze as he pulled back. "You finally left that asshole?"

Jensen's gaze darted across to him for a second and Jeff couldn't help but feel like an intruder when Jensen said with a tiny shrug, "Something like that."

Jeff didn't miss the extra shoulder-squeeze Jared gave him in response. 

"Well, I guess you're making friends here already," Jared teased. "I wait five years for you to come visit me and you leave me for Morgan in two minutes. I see how it is, Ackles."

Despite looking like he was about to fall asleep any second, Jensen managed a smile.

"My car broke down," he said. "Jeff stopped to help."

"We tried to call," Jeff added, "but there was something up with your phone. You forget to pay a bill or something?"

Jared rubbed at the back of his neck. "Not exactly. I'm fostering another puppy from the shelter. He's getting better about doing his business outside but I'm still waiting on him to figure out that telephone cables aren't food." He looked to Jensen with a wince. "I'm sorry for leaving you stranded, man. You're soaked."

Jensen's shrug was more than a little shaky. "I'm okay. I-" He swallowed. "Is the offer still open? Can I stay with you?"

Jeff didn't have time to process Jensen driving nearly three thousand miles for an offer he wasn't sure was still open before Jared nudged the door open wider. "Course it's still open," he said firmly. "Stay as long as you need."

Jensen sounded painfully grateful. "Thank you."

Jeff was half-convinced that, if he hadn't been there, Jared would have pulled Jensen into another hug. He had a few pieces of the puzzle -- they'd known each other a while and were clearly good friends -- but couldn't pin the rest down. He knew Jared swung both ways and judging by the reference to an asshole ex, he guessed there was a boyfriend in Jensen's past, but he couldn't figure out if their friendship had gone that far.

It bothered him more than it probably should've done.

Between the three of them (and one unhelpfully curious puppy), they got Jensen's stuff moved from Jeff's truck to Jared's living room within five minutes. Jensen still looked like he was going to pass out right there, possible pneumonia be damned, and so as soon as the last box was unloaded, Jeff took the opportunity to make a quick exit.

He almost made it through the door before he was stopped by a yap from the puppy and a call from Jared. 

"Hey."

Against his better judgment, Jeff paused. The puppy was wriggling in Jared's arms when he looked back at him but he calmed quickly under the weight of Jared's pats. "Thanks for looking after him," Jared said sincerely. "Sorry about the phone."

"Not a problem," Jeff returned, equally sincere. "Make sure he gets dry, okay? I don't know how long he was out in that rain before I got there."

Jared saluted. "Shower and a hot drink. Got it. I owe you one, man."

Jeff waved it away. "After all the beers you've bought me over the years, I think we're square." The rain was beating down behind him on the metal of the car but he hesitated for one last moment. "You and Jensen- Were you…"

"We were friends when I was in college in New York." There was a knowing glint in his eye but Jeff felt his cheeks heat at the awkwardness of asking after someone ten years his junior. "That's all."

"Thanks," Jeff said, tucking his hands in his pockets as Jared halted the puppy's lunge towards his hair. "Have a good night."

"Drive safe," Jared called as he headed back out into the rain. "Oh, and if you get any of those shortcake cup things going spare, I'm still your guy!"

  


It was three days before he saw Jensen again.

(Not that he was counting.)

It was past six-thirty, the shelves were mostly empty and waiting to be restocked the next morning, and Jeff was more than ready to knock back a couple of beers then go home and sack out on his couch with his dog.

He locked the back door and flicked the kitchen lights off but turned around in confusion when he heard the all-too-familiar thump of the front door closing. 

"We're closed," he called, winding his way around the sink to get back out into the store. "But if you happen to be looking for three french bread rolls and a slice of lemon pie, I can probably cut you a de-"

He trailed off when he finally got a look at the latecomer.

"Jensen?"

Jensen gave an awkward wave. "Guess I should be glad you didn't just remember me as 'that guy who should've charged his phone', huh?"

He looked a lot healthier now that he wasn't soaked to the skin and shivering like a scared pup. He was taller than Jeff remembered and even more good-looking when he wasn't passing out from exhaustion. He was in jeans, a tee and a dark jacket and had a tin tucked under one arm as he stood in the middle of the store.

"How you been?" Jeff asked, dropping his cloth on the shelf and moving around the counter. "Jared been looking after you all right?"

Jensen relaxed at that, the tense line of his shoulders loosening up as he said, "He's been great. Rhubarb's been very welcoming."

"Rhubarb?"

"The puppy," he clarified. "He's only chewed through one pair of my shoes which apparently means he likes me."

Jeff chuckled and Jensen ducked his head with a smile.

"I just wanted to stop by and say thanks," he admitted. "I don't know what I would've done if you hadn't been there to help."

"You would've figured something out," Jeff said with more confidence than he actually felt. "But no thanks needed. Happy to help."

"I can give you gas money," Jensen said, reaching into his back pocket. "And I can pay dry-cleaning bills-"

"Hey, no," Jeff said, holding his hand up. "Keep it. I was driving into town anyway."

Jensen hesitated. "You sure?"

"One hundred percent," he promised. "I can't even remember the last time I took something to be dry-cleaned."

Jensen smiled. "I thought you might say that."

Jeff looked down at his flour-smudged t-shirt and apron. "Is that a crack about the way I dress? I'm very hygienic, I swear."

That got a laugh out of him as he eased the tin out from where it was tucked under his arm. "Don't worry, you get an A+ for cleanliness. I just figured you wouldn't let me give you money for helping me out, so…" He popped the lid off the tin and held it out to Jeff with a nervous shrug. "I thought maybe baked goods were the way to go."

"You didn't have to…"

Expecting some cookies or maybe a batch of messily iced cupcakes, Jeff trailed off abruptly when he saw the neat lines of cream-colored macarons.

"You made these?"

"Yep." Jensen looked more confident now as he wiggled the tin. "With my own two hands."

Jeff's brain was still having trouble. "In Jared's cooker?"

"Turns out it can actually make decent food," he teased. "I think Jared was as surprised as you are." He jiggled the tin again. "C'mon, man, take one. Help me feel less guilty about making you run around in the rain because of me."

Not one for saying no to baked goods or pleas from obscenely good-looking guys, Jeff reached out to snag a macaron from the tin. While the meringue was cream, the filling was tinged pink and he gave it a curious sniff before taking a bite.

"You're smelling it now?" Jensen said, amused. "Good to know you have faith in my abilities."

His smile widened into a pleased grin when Jeff let out a surprised noise of approval. The macaron was perfectly made, light and soft with a strawberry filling, and even after a whole day of being surrounded by sugary treats, he finished it off greedily. 

When he looked back up to Jensen, it was with a new admiration. (And borderline suspicion.)

"Good?" Jensen asked, full of smirky innocence. It might have been irritating if it hadn't gone straight to Jeff's dick.

"Really good," he said, impressed. "Where'd you learn to cook like that?"

"Culinary school," Jensen said with a smile. "I was a pastry chef back in New York."

"A pastry chef, huh?" Jeff ran a hand through his hair. "Well, now my snickerdoodle offer seems really inadequate."

"Hey, that was an amazing snickerdoodle," Jensen said firmly. "It definitely didn't deserve me falling asleep halfway through it."

Jeff laughed. "You really know how to flatter a guy."

"I try," he said. "You'll have to give me the recipe for those, by the way. I think Jared's constantly disappointed that my baking doesn't taste like yours."

"What happened to trade secrets?" Jeff said with feigned seriousness but Jensen's smile barely dimmed as he bit his lip.

"Talking of trade secrets," he began, "I might have had an ulterior motive for bringing you food."

"Ulterior motive, huh?" Setting the tin down on the counter, Jeff folded his arms and waited, amused. "Should I get ready for the small-town bakery war to end all small-town bakery wars?"

"No bakery wars," he promised. "I, uh- Jared said you might be looking for some help with this place, and so I figured maybe…" He gestured to the macarons. "Call it an audition, I guess?"

Jeff blinked. "You want to work here?"

"Not if you don't want me," Jensen said quickly. "I don't want to be a charity case." He paused. "Okay, _more_ of a charity case. If you don't think it would be a good fit, that's totally fine and I'll get out of your hair, but I- I'm good at this." He waved his hand in the direction of the empty shelves. "Y'know. Food."

He looked to Jeff, apparently braced for rejection, and Jeff allowed himself a brief moment to think. He wasn't prepared for the guy he'd picked up at the roadside to be asking him for a job, and he definitely wasn't prepared for said guy to be both qualified and stupidly pretty.

"You were a pastry chef?" he asked. "Was that in a restaurant or a store?"

"Restaurant," Jensen said, still looking nervous. "Kinyard."

The name sounded vaguely familiar and Jeff raised his eyebrows when it clicked into place. "Oh, wow, is that Pellegrino place?"

"Yeah." 

The lightness in his voice was fake and when something flickered through his eyes, Jeff suddenly had a very good idea who the 'asshole' ex was.

"I can get a reference if you need one," Jensen offered. 

Given the circumstances, Jeff guessed that getting a reference from his ex was way down on the list of things he wanted to do. (Having seen the scribbled out writing on the boxes full of Jensen's belongings, he had a good idea what that reference would contain.)

"No," he said, making up his mind. "I think these macarons have got you covered on the technical skills front."

Jensen's eyes lit up. "You mean…?"

"You're hired," Jeff said. "I've been needing another pair of hands around here for a while. I've just been too stubborn to actually find someone." 

He was foolishly pleased to see the relieved smile on Jensen's face but forced himself back into business mode as he said, "I think a trial period might be best at the start though. I'll pay you for your work but we should check to make sure everything runs smoothly before we make this long-term."

"That's great," Jensen said honestly. "Thank you so much."

"You're welcome." Reaching over to snag another macaron, he took a bite as he said, "And hey, I get a trained chef out of the deal. It's a bargain."

Jensen nodded. "I hear I'm very good value for money."

Jeff resisted the urge to make a prostitution joke. They definitely hadn't reached the prostitution-joke stage in their relationship yet and he really didn't want to get sued for sexual harassment within thirty seconds of hiring a new employee.

"I'll take your word for it," he said, taking his final bite of the macaron. "It shouldn't take you long to settle in. If you're still happy to be working here in a couple of weeks or so, we can call that the end of the trial period."

Jensen nodded. "Sounds good."

Jeff scrubbed a hand through his hair. "Sorry, there must be a ton of things I should be telling you about but my brain's stuck on beers and macarons. You wanna come across to the bar and go through everything there?"

"I'll bring the macarons," Jensen said with a smirk and Jeff laughed as he grabbed his jacket and keys.

"Y'know, I think this should work out fine," he said, patting Jensen on the shoulder as he guided him towards the door. "You're fitting in already."

  


As the days wore on, Jeff couldn't decide whether to be happy or annoyed by just how well Jensen was fitting in.

He'd moved out of Jared's house to an apartment above Idris' bar, he'd got his car patched up and moving (creakily) again, and he'd been settling in nicely at work. 

Jeff's cupcakes were still the most popular item (which Jeff was privately pleased about; they were goddamn awesome cupcakes) but his customers were quickly becoming fond of the macarons, eclairs, tarts and cream donuts which Jensen had added to the bakery's menu. 

He still had Genevieve on the early bread-making shift -- neither he nor Jensen were morning people and kneading the dough within an inch of its squishy life was a task she seemed to relish -- but once she headed off to vet school at eight, it was just him and Jensen for the rest of the day. It was too early to tell for sure but business looked to be picking up and for the first time in months, Jeff was giving some serious consideration to converting the bakery to a sit-in cafe.

As well as integrating himself smoothly into the bakery, Jensen had also fitted seamlessly into their social group. While Jeff was happy about this most of the time, he had to admit that Jensen's presence had its occasional downsides.

Jensen standing between Jeff and a touchdown was definitely a downside.

His palms were damp with sweat as he shifted the ball from one hand to the other, and he slowed his run a little when he saw Jensen waiting between him and the end zone. The Saturday was wearing on, leaving the park quiet as the kids headed home, and it was only team pride and the promise of a free round of beers which kept Jeff from calling time and heading to the bar right then.

Jensen jogged closer with a grin on his face. Jeff was ninety percent sure that the oversized Cowboys jersey he was wearing belonged to Jared and the stupid spark of jealousy was enough to motivate him into calling, "Y'know, you can stand aside now, kid. Wouldn't want to embarrass you."

From downfield, he heard Danneel yell, "Take him down, Ackles!" but Jensen's grin didn't falter. 

His cheeks were flushed from the afternoon's exertions and his hair was mussed from where Jared had tackled him to the ground earlier, and despite weeks of telling himself otherwise, Jeff just wanted to kiss him until he couldn't stand. 

He slowed his run even more, feigning a dash to the left and then the right, but Jensen followed easily, arms out to catch him. 

"You could just give up," Jensen said. "I could really use that free beer."

"Not as much as I could," Jeff said honestly. Beer was swiftly replacing team pride as his main motivating factor.

His knee was aching from running around all afternoon and he glanced to the left as he made a last-ditch attempt at victory. "Hey, is that dude selling the same pastries you make?"

He almost felt guilty when Jensen turned to look.

(Not guilty enough to stop running, admittedly. It wasn't his fault Jensen happened to have a pastry-based weakness.)

He took off as soon as Jensen's eyes slid to the left. Ducking right, he curled the ball in close to his body and made a final dash for the endzone, right past Jensen.

The half-hearted distraction attempt only delayed him a second and Jeff ran as fast as he could as Jensen closed in behind him, feet thumping hard on the worn grass. Shouts followed them down the field, although with his blood pounding in his ears, Jeff couldn't tell whether the callers were on his side or Jensen's. 

Jensen was younger and faster as well as having the advantage of two fully functioning knees, so Jeff knew it was only a matter of time, but as he got closer and closer, success started to become an actual possibility.

Right up until Jensen's body slammed into his, anyway.

Jeff staggered under the force of the collision, stretching forward as much as he could in an effort to get over the line, but that was soon abandoned in favor of breaking his fall when Jensen caught him around the hips to send them both toppling to the ground. Landing on his good knee, Jeff rolled to cushion his landing, dragging Jensen through the grass and the mud with him until he collapsed flat on his back with a groan.

From somewhere around his midsection, there was an answering groan from Jensen. "Ow…"

Jensen propped himself up on his elbows as Jeff glanced down. He'd managed to land between Jeff's legs and Jeff tried to keep his thoughts clean as Jensen gasped for breath. There was dirt on his face and grass in his hair, and Jeff couldn't help but smirk when Jensen muttered, "I can't believe I fell for the goddamn pastry trick."

"What can I say," Jeff said, "they're your Achilles' heel."

"I feel like that myth would've ended very differently if Achilles just had a thing for pastries," Jensen said. He swiped at his face but only succeeded in smearing more dirt across his cheeks. "Son of a bitch."

"Cleanliness is difficult," Jeff said sympathetically.

Jensen frowned. "Huh?" Jeff gestured to his face and he raised his eyebrows. "Oh, I wasn't talking about me looking like a swamp monster." He nodded to something near Jeff's shoulder. "Guess the beer's on me."

Following his gaze, Jeff looked down to see the faded white line on the grass beneath his shoulder and then up at the football that was still clutched between his hands. "Holy shit, we won?"

"You won," Jensen said with a rueful smile. He grimaced as he pushed himself to his feet and held out a dirty hand to help him up. "I figure I owe you a beer anyway. What with the rescuing and the employment and all."

"You don't owe me anything for that," Jeff said, stretching his leg out with a wince. "I will take a beer for kicking your ass though."

"Asshole," Jensen said with a smile. He elbowed him in the side as the rest of their teams jogged over to provide commiserations or congratulations as needed. "Good game, man."

Jeff shook his hand when he offered it. "Right back at you. Maybe things'll go in your favor next time, huh?"

Jensen grinned. "Count on it."

  


"Three, two, one, drink!"

Jeff wrinkled his nose as the tequila coursed over the salt on his tongue to burn its way down his throat. There was a lime pressed to his lips before he could voice his displeasure and he bit down hard when Jensen leaned against him with a cheer.

He grimaced as he dropped the lime back to the bar. "M'gettin' too old for this."

"Bullshit," Idris said as he slid another pint across the bar.

Jeff pointed an accusing finger in his direction. He was a little concerned by how much it wobbled. "You just want me spending my hard-earned money in your bar."

Idris' grin was unrepentent. "Yes, I do. My takings'll drop forty percent if you suddenly swear off alcohol."

"Okay, one, I don't drink that much," he said, "and two, you're all bad influences."

"I thought you were supposed to be the old, wise one," Misha said. "That much alcohol is not very wise."

"Well, I'm not very old either so I guess that works out," Jeff muttered. "Is this a thing now? I'm the old guy?"

"Shush," Jensen said, patting him on the cheek. "You're not old. You couldn't have kicked my ass today if you were."

Jeff wasn't all that concerned about his age - their friendship group was comfortably spaced out over a good decade and a half, from Adrianne at 25 to himself at 41 - but the reassurance was still soothing to his ego. Jensen stayed close beside him as he drank his own beer, his skin lit up pink by the lights of the bar, and Jeff tried to keep his thoughts from slipping away down inappropriate avenues at the sight of Jensen fitting his mouth to the neck of the beer bottle.

The scatter of cheers from one of the tables drew him out of his trance. After a quick glance over to see Jared attempting to moonwalk, he set his beer back down and blinked away the haze from his eyes as he said, "M'gonna go get some fresh air." He looked down the bar at Misha. "Don't steal my drink."

"Too late," Cindy said cheerfully, snaking his still-full beer out from between him and Jensen.

Jensen laughed but Jeff felt his hand on his arm as he backed up from the bar. "You mind if I tag along?" he asked. "My head's killing me."

Jeff held his arm out. "Hey, the more the merrier."

Jensen swayed but fell into step beside him as they wandered through the Saturday night bustle towards the exit. The cool air was a welcome relief and Jeff tipped his head back with a sigh as Jensen broke away to wander along the sidewalk. 

The blue neon of the sign lit up the street outside with the name of _The Shortstack_ and Jeff followed Jensen down to lean against the shutters of the store next door. The familiar facade of _MMMorgan's_ was visible down the street and Jeff's gaze slid over the dark windows of his apartment to look up to the spiderweb of stars which stretched out above them.

The dull pounding in his head suggested a nasty hangover the next morning but when Jensen looked over at him with a tired smile, he figured a hangover was a small price to pay.

"Different from New York, huh?"

Jensen nodded. "Very. Cleaner, for one. Plus it's got that whole small and quiet thing working for it."

There was a loud cheer from inside the bar. If Jeff had to guess, he would've put it down to Genevieve beating Jared in a drinking contest. (Again.)

"Okay, so ninety-five percent quiet," he amended with a grin.

"Do you miss it?"

The question came out more bluntly than Jeff had intended and he clarified quickly, "New York, I mean. Do you wish you were back there still?"

Jensen didn't look over at him. "Sometimes," he admitted. "My whole life was there. It's hard to just forget about all that."

"Of course."

The blue light fell across the curve of his jaw when Jensen turned his head. "That doesn't mean I'm not glad to be here though. Everyone's been great." He smiled. " _Really_ great, especially since I'm just Jared's stray friend from years ago."

Jeff chuckled. "Hate to break it to you, man, but I think most of us are strays here. You fit in better than you know."

"Thanks?" Jensen said. "I guess it's good to know you're not all gossiping about me behind my back."

"Hey, I never said we didn't gossip," he teased, and laughed when Jensen elbowed him in the side. 

"Dick," he muttered without malice. 

He leaned in closer, the sleepy weight of alcohol pulling his head down to rest on Jeff's shoulder, and Jeff resisted the urge to wrap his arm around him in a hug as he said, "Since you're already calling me a dick, you should probably know that I may have volunteered the two of us to bake for Jared's fundraiser next weekend."

"Let me guess," Jensen said with a shake of his head, "you were drunk and Jared convinced you with puppies."

That was an eerily accurate reflection of their conversation.

"In a nutshell." Aware that it was a big ask, he tried to backpedal. "You don't need to do anything if you don't want to, though. I can handle it."

"Don't be stupid." Jensen rolled his eyes. "Of course I'll help. I know your shortcake cups are good but you can't bake enough to feed the whole town by yourself. Learn to share, dude."

His eyes shone in the blue light when he looked up at him and Jeff swallowed past the lump in his throat. "I'm working on it."

"Good," Jensen said firmly. He followed it up with a pat to Jeff's chest before lapsing back into sleepy silence as they leaned half against the wall and half against each other.

The burble of voices from the bar didn't let up but it was easy enough for Jeff to shut out the sound as he listened to the steady rhythm of Jensen's breathing. The evening breeze flowed over them, cool and calming, and when he felt Jensen shiver, Jeff eased his arm around his shoulders without a second thought.

He tensed up a moment later as the realization hit him but allowed himself to relax when Jensen seemed more than comfortable in his arms. 

"It's gonna take some time for me to stop missing New York," Jensen said quietly, "but I think I like it better here."

"Silverdale's better than New York, huh?" He gave his arm a squeeze. "You should get a job on our tourist board."

"Do you even have a tourist board here?"

"I heard someone made a website about ten years ago. It's very sophisticated."

He couldn't keep from smiling when Jensen laughed into his shoulder. "Well, that settles it. I can't resist out of date websites."

"Another success for our tourism strategy," Jeff said solemnly. Shifting position to get a better look at Jensen's face, he asked, "So does this mean you're staying here?"

"For the foreseeable," Jensen said. "I mean, I have a job and an apartment now, plus some people who might count as friends."

"They definitely count as friends."

Jensen ducked his head but Jeff caught the surprised little smile on his lips. It was hidden away a second later when he said with a shrug, "Well, none of them have thrown a frying pan at my head yet, so I guess Silverdale's ahead of New York when it comes to my personal life."

Jeff's eyebrows shot up. "A frying pan?"

"It missed," Jensen said, sounding far more casual than Jeff would've if someone had lobbed heavy objects in his direction. His follow-up smile was colorless. "Like I said, bad breakup."

He didn't sound open to further questions and so Jeff settled for tightening the one-armed hug. 

"Just for the record, I'm against you going back to New York," he said. "Silverdale is great. It has Jared and Idris and Genevieve, and a lot of people with strong positive feelings towards your cream donuts. Plus the only thing that will be thrown at you is a football." He thought back to earlier in the week when Jensen had accompanied him on Bisou's evening walk. "And possibly a chewtoy. Bisou gets overexcited easily."

"She's been spending too much time with Jared," Jensen said. He turned to face him, eyes bright as he looked up at him. "Don't worry, I'm staying. Wouldn't want to leave my boss high and dry, would I?"

He was closer now, pressed up against him enough that Jeff could feel the warmth of his body through their clothes. His gaze dropped to Jensen's lips for a second, lingering on the knowing smile that tugged at the corners, and he swallowed hard.

"Wouldn't want that," he said, shifting his hand from Jensen's back to his hip. "I don't know how I'd cope without you there to compliment my bagels every morning."

Jensen's smile was broad and sincere. "Decision made," he said. "I mean, if you can't live without me, I should definitely stay."

"You're so charitable," Jeff deadpanned.

Jensen grinned. "I know."

The noise from the bar quieted a fraction as Jensen tilted his chin up that extra half-inch. His breathing had picked up, chest rising and falling against Jeff's, and as Jeff took a chance on closing those few inches of space between them, he really hoped he wasn't misreading this.

Jensen pulled away before their lips could touch.

The cool night air washed over him when Jensen stepped back and Jeff's cheeks heated as embarrassment poured through him. "Shit, Jensen, I'm sorry. I thought-"

"It's okay." Jensen sounded less than convincing as he backed away with his hands raised and Jeff scrubbed a hand over his face. "I just- I can't do this again. I'm sorry."

"Jensen-"

Jeff wasn't sure what he was going to say - _sorry I tried to kiss you when you didn't want me to, please tell me I didn't fuck everything up_? - but he didn't get a chance to come up with anything as Jensen backed off, arms folded over the front of his loaned jersey. 

"I'll see you at work on Monday?"

It was more of a question than a statement, like he was worried Jeff was going to fire him for not putting out. Feeling like shit for thinking the kiss was ever a good idea, Jeff couldn't do much more than nod and agree.

"See you on Monday."

Relief flickered across Jensen's face and he managed a small, anxious smile. "Night, Jeff."

He disappeared around the side of the bar to head up to his apartment and Jeff let himself slump back against the wall.

He'd made his fair share of bad decisions in life but this was easily in the top five.

  


The clock ticked over to midnight as Jeff dashed past Jensen to where the timer on the cooker was beeping frantically.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck," he muttered, slapping at the timer to shut it up as he swung the door open. 

The next 'fuck, fuck, fuck' was at a much higher volume when he made a grab for the tray with his bare hand and promptly dropped it a second later.

"Motherfucker!"

Thankful that the tray hadn't capsized in the fall, he snagged a towel and rescued it with his right hand. His left throbbed painfully but before Jeff could check on the well-being of his overcooked shortcake cups, Jensen's hand was around his wrist and dragging him towards the sink. "Hey!"

"Hey yourself," Jensen said, turning the cold faucet on full and forcing his hand underneath it. "God invented oven mitts for a reason, y'know."

"But the shortcake-"

"Nope," Jensen said firmly. "Hold your hand there. It'll help."

Jeff's scowling was interrupted by a yawn. It was hard to do both at the same time. "I'm fine. Really."

Jensen did not look convinced. "You need to get some sleep."

"No," he said, "what I need to do is finish these batches of shortcake and then make a start on the brownies. The fundraiser's tomorrow and we're nowhere closer to ready."

He glanced over his shoulder to Jensen's workstation, which was covered in half-frosted gingerbread men. "Anyway, it looks like you need sleep more than I do. Unless we're specializing in incarcerated gingerbread people now."

"What-" Jensen followed his gaze to the row of gingerbread felons in stripy shirts. "Shit."

He let go of Jeff's wrist and Jeff leaned against the sink to stretch his sore fingers and to yawn yet again. "This was a bad idea, wasn't it? I shouldn't agree to things when I'm drunk."

Jensen gave him a tired smile. "That's a good life goal, yeah." He sighed, looking around at the mess of the kitchen. Jeff decided not to mention the smear of batter in his hair. "But it's for a good cause, right? Jared's shelter needs the money and people will pay surprisingly high amounts for baked goods. We can get it done."

"I can get it done," Jeff said. "You should go home and get some rest."

"And leave you to burn the rest of your arm off? I'm good here, thanks."

"I mean it, Jensen. I'm the one who signed up for this and I don't mind working late." He waved his hand in the direction of the ceiling and his apartment upstairs. "It's not like I've got far to go to get home."

"Because I do? I live right down the block, man. Let me help out."

"Jensen-"

"What?" His hands went to his hips and Jeff could almost ignore the smudge of chocolate on his temple as he snapped, "Why do you suddenly want to get rid of me? We both know this is a two-man job."

"I don't want to get rid of you." His hand ached when he pulled it out from under the faucet but he ignored the throb of pain in favor of turning to face Jensen square on. "I'm your boss. I'm just trying to look out for you."

"Right." Jensen's voice was dripping with sarcasm. "I'm sure it's got nothing to do with you avoiding me for the past week."

Jeff hoped he didn't look as guilty as he felt. Apparently he was not as stealthy in his avoidance as he'd hoped. "I wasn't avoiding you. We work together."

"Which I'm guessing is why you were avoiding me." He folded his arms across his chest, looking disheveled and pouty, and god help him, Jeff really wanted to kiss him. "It's because of what happened at the bar, right?"

"I'm sorry," Jeff said honestly. He was too tired for this conversation but he figured the least he could do was apologize again when they were both sober. "I- I misread things, I guess."

Some of the fight went out of Jensen as he leaned back against the countertop. "You didn't misread," he said softly. "You're great, Jeff, but after everything that happened in New York with Mark…" He rubbed his hand over the back of his neck. "I don't think dating my boss is a great idea. Losing my job, my friends and my boyfriend isn't really something I want to go through again."

"Okay."

Jensen did a double-take. "Okay? What does okay mean?"

"It means I get it," he said, taking a step forward. "Look, I don't know what happened in New York but I'm not like him. I'm not going to fire you if things don't work out and I'm sure as hell not going to drive your friends away." He tried for a smile. "I think Jared would be clinging on to you too hard to pry him off."

It hurt to get the words out but Jeff kept his voice as neutral as he could as he rested his hand on Jensen's arm. "But if you don't want to take that risk again, that's okay with me. We can just be friends."

Jensen looked like he was about to cry. 

Since that was pretty much the opposite of Jeff's intended goal, he may have panicked a little. "Fuck, are you okay?" he asked, coaxing his head up. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"

He shut up at the press of Jensen's mouth against his.

Jensen's lips were warm and soft but even as Jeff brought his (non-burned) hand up to cup his cheek, he could feel the tremor of nerves thrumming through him. Jensen tilted his head, brushing his tongue against Jeff's lips, but Jeff pulled back before it could go any further. 

"Hey, hey," he said gently. "Are you sure about this? Two minutes ago you were calling time on everything."

"I know," Jensen said, wiping his hands on his apron. "I'm sorry. I- Your offer to just be friends - Mark never would've said that."

Jeff was lost. "That's a good thing, right? 'Cause, no offence, but Mark sounds like a dick."

Jensen's smile was watery. "Definitely a dick. But you're not him," he said firmly, "and I'd be an idiot if I let myself miss out on this because of him."

The second touch of their lips was different than the first. Jensen's nerves seemed to melt away as he drew him into the kiss and the way he fitted their mouths together spoke of certainty and promise. Half-convinced he'd fallen asleep in a bowl of egg-whites and was dreaming, Jeff let his burned hand bump against the countertop and smiled into the kiss when Jensen didn't disappear at the low rush of pain.

Given Jensen's concerns about them getting together, Jeff was half-expecting timidity but was pleasantly surprised by the confidence of Jensen's kiss. He kissed like he meant it, soft lips and hot tongue sliding against Jeff's, and Jeff let himself be pressed back against the counter as Jensen's body fitted against his.

Jeff's good hand slid around to grope his ass while Jensen's arms looped around his neck to let him deepen the kiss. Giving his ass a quick squeeze, Jeff smiled against his mouth when Jensen jolted at the touch, arching forward to grind his hips against Jeff's.

The rush of want was almost teenage, a frantic whirlwind of hormones and lust, but as Jeff pushed off the countertop to back Jensen up against the wall, he was grateful for the adult undercurrent of competence. He may have been half-hard just from kissing him, like he was eighteen and on a goddamn hair trigger, but they both knew exactly what they were doing and where this was going.

(He was ninety-five percent sure they wouldn't have to deal with an awkward morning-after.)

Jensen's lips parted easily beneath his own, tongue curling against Jeff's as Jeff cupped his cheek. His stubble scratched against his palm while his fingertips smoothed over the sheen of sweat on Jensen's skin. The cookers had been running all day, pumping out heat into the small kitchen, and he moved to scritch his fingers through the damp hair at the base of Jensen's skull as their mouths stayed slotted together.

Jensen was warm and eager under his hands, his dick already tenting the fabric of his apron, but before Jeff could decide exactly what to do about that, Jensen broke away with a groan.

He tipped his head back, baring the column of his throat as he took a deep breath, and Jeff couldn't resist scraping his teeth over the curve of his neck. 

Jensen shivered against him, a pleasant tremble that went right down to his knees, and Jeff nipped at the ridge of his collarbone to draw a shaky gasp from him.

"This is a bad idea," Jensen murmured.

Conscious that he was all but pinning him to the wall, Jeff froze. However, he was soon reassured when Jensen frowned at the sudden lack of kissing and met his eyes. 

"Shit, no, not like that," he said, giving him a quick kiss on the lips. "This is a good idea." He waved his hand in the general direction of their bodies. "This is a goddamn amazing idea. Just not here." He scrunched up his nose. "It's kind of unhygienic."

As much as Jeff didn't want to admit it, he had a point. 

"I guess we should relocate, huh?"

"We should. I don't want to mess things up for the fundraiser." Jensen kissed him again. "Think of the puppies."

Puppies were currently low on Jeff's list of priorities. However, hygiene was definitely a concern (along with explaining to Jared why they had no food for his fundraiser) and he ran a hand through his hair as he stepped back. "My place?"

He headed towards the stairs as soon as Jensen nodded.

Previously the perks of living above his store were limited to a short commute and the confidence of knowing that he'd be there in case Genevieve accidentally burned the place down one morning, but as Jensen jogged up the stairs behind him, Jeff was confident that this had now claimed the top spot.

Bisou was at Jared's house for the night, meaning that the mess in his apartment couldn't be blamed on the occupational hazard of having a dog around, and so Jeff hurried to nudge a stack of motorcycle magazines back under the coffee table and dump a paper coffee cup in the trash as Jensen walked in behind.

"You know I'm not paying attention to your apartment, right?" Leaning against the doorjamb, Jensen let his gaze travel down Jeff's body as a smile curved on his lips. "I got much more interesting things to look at."

Kicking an old pair of boots back into the corner, Jeff moved back over to him with a grin of his own. "Right back at you."

With an eerie level of synchronicity, they both reached back to untie their aprons at the same time and Jeff toed his shoes off as Jensen laughed. "I guess that's the plus side to hooking up with a chef," he teased, stepping in to kiss him once their aprons were safely set aside. "Speedy undressing."

Tugging Jensen's t-shirt off by way of demonstration, Jeff backed him towards the bedroom as he teased, "I like your commitment to practicality."

Jensen returned the t-shirt removal favor and pulled him in for a deep kiss. "I'm very efficient, what can I say."

Without their shoes, the height difference seemed magnified and Jeff enjoyed the feel of coaxing Jensen's face up to lick inside his mouth. Jensen arched against him, all warm hands and smooth skin, and Jeff ran his hands down his back to dip inside the waist of Jensen's cotton pants. 

The burn on his hand had faded to nothing but a dull numbness and so it was with ease that he cupped Jensen's ass, squeezing firmly as Jensen laughed into the kiss. His hips moved in a needy roll, his torso pressed up against Jeff's own, and Jeff tilted his head to bite at Jensen's earlobe.

"Jesus," he groaned. His fingers dug into Jeff's shoulders and Jeff trailed kisses along his jaw as Jensen asked, "You got a rubber?"

It was hard to take his mouth off Jensen long enough to answer. "Nightstand."

Apparently Jensen felt the same when he promptly sealed his lips against Jeff's again. "Awesome."

His hands moved down from his shoulders to tug at the waistband of Jeff's pants and boxers. Jeff stepped out of them as they pooled around his ankles and used the movement to back Jensen up those extra couple of feet towards the bed.

His calves bumped against the side of the mattress and Jeff couldn't help but grin at the abrupt end to the kiss when Jensen toppled back onto the bed with a yelp. 

Jeff had to admit he looked good there.

Taking the opportunity presented to him, he leaned over to tug Jensen's pants and shorts down his legs to leave him naked on the sheets. Jensen squirmed as he was stripped down, feet kicking in the material, but his knees parted easily as Jeff climbed onto the bed to catch his lips once again.

He moaned into the kiss when Jensen rolled his hips up. The friction of their dicks sliding together was just the wrong side of painful and his kisses grew messier for a second as he fumbled blindly for the lube and condom in the nightstand. Arousal pounded through him as he worked his lube-slick hand up and down the length of his dick and he bit his lip in an effort to keep his mind on the job.

From the sigh that Jensen let out when Jeff's hand moved to his cock, he was having the same issue, and Jeff let his lubed fingers slide down over his balls to rub over the dip of Jensen's hole in a wordless question.

The response was definitely not wordless as Jensen ground against him, pushing down on Jeff's fingers as much as the position would allow. "C'mon."

His thighs trembled against Jeff's body when Jeff pushed two fingers inside without preamble. Jensen's head fell back, chest rising and falling with shallow breaths, and Jeff let the litany of whimpers and moans guide him as he opened him up on his fingers. 

His cock bobbed between his legs, wet with lube and pre-come, and he leaned over Jensen to let their dicks brush again. Jensen's head was thrown back but he looked down to meet Jeff's eyes with a smile when Jeff ducked his head to catch his nipple between his teeth.

"You with me?" Jeff teased, kissing him on the neck. "Thought I'd lost you for a minute there."

Jensen feigned a glare. "You have good fingers." He scraped his teeth over Jeff's lower lip and canted his hips up insistently. "I got distracted."

"I can keep going." Pushing his thumb in, he flexed it purposefully against the tight ring of muscle. "Y'know, since you're enjoying it so much."

"Shut up," Jensen said with a groan. "I've been fantasizing about this for weeks, man. I'm not just gonna come with your thumb up my ass." He bit down hard on his lower lip when Jeff pushed his thumb in deeper. "Fuck, maybe next time though."

Jeff had plenty of ideas of his own for next time (and the next dozen times after that) but based on Jensen's breathy little moans, he definitely wasn't ruling it out. However, his cock was achingly hard where it rubbed against Jensen's and he ignored the pulse of heat when he shifted down on the bed to roll the condom on and to let the head of his cock rest against Jensen's ass.

Moonlight poured in through the window and Jeff tried to focus on every little detail as he slowly eased his dick inside him. Even with the help from his fingers, Jensen's ass was tight around the length of him, and Jeff kept his eyes on Jensen's face as he filled him up inch by inch. 

Jensen's lower lip stayed between his teeth and his eyes were screwed shut as he gave a tiny wince of pain. "Jesus," he murmured, spreading his legs wider. "Fuck."

He hesitated. "You want me to stop?"

Jensen's headshake was instantaneous. "No." He swallowed. "It's good, I just- it's been a while." He moved his hips in an experimental roll down onto Jeff's dick that left them both groaning. "I'm good." Jeff was relieved to see the glint in his eyes when he looked at him pointedly. "Sometime today, dude."

Jeff raised his eyebrows. "I was checking that you were okay!"

The teasing little smile on Jensen's face went directly to Jeff's dick. "Of course you were."

Jeff had never been one to back down from a challenge.

He pushed the rest of the way in with one swift thrust and nearly came at the strung-out moan that left Jensen's lips. He'd been liberal with the lube, enough that his dick slid easily in Jensen's ass, and so when he pulled back to snap his hips forward, he was more than satisfied to hear Jensen moan again.

He clutched at the pillows, mouth open in a pretty pink 'o' as Jeff thrust in fast and deep, and Jeff spread his knees wider to keep his balance as he leaned down to take that mouth for himself. Where they'd been confident and competent before, Jensen's kisses were now messy and desperate as he let Jeff's tongue toy with his, licking along the swell of his lips.

"C'mon," Jeff said, fucking in harder as heat spilled through him. "Let me hear you, sweetheart."

Jensen didn't need much persuading to moan louder. He arched against him, dick sliding between their bodies as he grabbed at Jeff's arms to hold him close, and his words came out as a plea against Jeff's lips. "God, right there. Fuck…"

Barely able to speak himself, Jeff smirked as he said between breaths, "Eloquent."

Breathing heavily, Jensen managed to open his eyes long enough to hit him on the arm and then pull him in for another breathless kiss. "You try using words when you're getting fucked like this." He whimpered as he canted his hips up to meet Jeff's thrust. "Holy shit."

The curl of his fingers around Jeff's arms got tighter as the words kept spilling out, "So goddamn close..."

Jeff had pretty much been on the edge since he'd seen Jensen spreading his legs on his bed, so as far as he was concerned, release couldn't come soon enough. Anticipation and arousal thrummed through him, a quickening pulse coursing from his toes to his fingertips, and he fisted his hands in the sheets with a groan as the heat built inside him.

Jensen tipped his head back once again, body taut like a bowstring as his lips moved soundlessly, and Jeff moved in to fit his mouth to his pulsepoint.

His lips had barely touched his skin when Jensen came with a cry.

He moaned through it, hips jerking up to rub his dick between their bodies as come fell in streaks across his own chest, and as he buried his face in Jensen's shoulder, Jeff let himself fall too.

He kept moving, rutting forward into the tight clench of Jensen's ass as he spilled thickly into the condom, and mouthed helplessly at Jensen's throat as the force of his orgasm rolled through him.

It left him sated and exhausted as he slumped on the bed, and while he lay there waiting for his brain to get back on line, all he could hear was the thud of his heartbeat in his ears and the ragged breaths that accompanied the rise and fall of Jensen's chest.

"You okay?"

Jeff almost thought the question had come from him for a second but he blinked when he realized that it was Jensen talking.

"Jeff? You with me?"

"I'm with you," Jeff mumbled, holding back a yawn. 

His dick ached a little when he eased it out of Jensen's ass and he snagged a tissue to wrap the condom in before collapsing onto his back next to Jensen. The muscles in his thighs and arms throbbed in the aftermath of the night's exertions but the mild pain couldn't compete with the flood of satisfaction that still poured through him.

Feeling like he should at least attempt some chivalry, he looked over to Jensen. "You good?"

He allowed himself a very broad definition of chivalry.

Jensen looked back with a sleepy smile. "I'm great. That was…" He shook his head with a bigger smile on his lips and almost sounded surprised when he said, "Awesome."

Jeff was pretty sure his ego had just grown about three sizes.

"Right back at you," he said honestly.

Jensen laughed. "I'm glad we can agree on these things. It bodes well." 

He leaned over to leave a soft kiss on Jeff's lips but then rolled out of bed with a wince.

Dazed, exhausted, and deprived of his post-coital nap, Jeff propped himself up on his elbows. "Where're you going?"

"Shower," Jensen said as though it was obvious, wrapping the sheet around his hips. 

It was a half-hearted cover-up at best and Jeff slumped back onto the pillow to admire the view of Jensen's ass as he headed for the bathroom.

"We got baking to do," Jensen reminded him, tousled head peeking out from behind the bathroom door. "Quit sleepin' on the job."

Jeff groaned. "Slave-driver."

He heard the rush of the shower turning on as Jensen called, "Those pastries aren't gonna bake themselves." He stuck his head back out again, looking far more cheerful than Jeff could deal with at one in the morning from a guy who'd just been thoroughly fucked. "If you get up now, you can come get in the shower with me. It looks like it'll fit two."

Jeff was on his feet in seconds. It turned out that the promise of wet, naked Jensen was an excellent motivational tool.

  


The burst of sunlight through the curtains the next morning was an unwelcome surprise. Managing a groan of displeasure, Jeff fumbled for the sheets to pull them up over his head but blinked back to wakefulness when his hand just fell down into his lap.

"Evening, big guy."

Squinting against the sun, Jeff looked down to see that he was lounging in a chair outside rather than sacked out in his own bed. His eyes traveled up the jean-clad legs of the person in front of him before coming to a stop on the sunglasses that were dangling from Jensen's fingers. 

"Hey," he muttered, snagging them back. It was nicer when the sun wasn't quite so intrusive. "How's the fundraiser going? Do we need to restock?"

"The fundraiser _went_ great," Jensen said, taking a bite of a cookie. "It finished twenty minutes ago."

Jeff looked around in confusion, only to see that Jensen was right. Where Jared's giant back yard had been bustling with people and animals, it was now down to a handful of people clearing up the trash. The tables of cakes and baked goods were severely depleted and he rubbed his eyes beneath the sunglasses as he asked, "We sell everything?"

"Pretty much," Jensen said. "Jared's still counting everything up but it looks like the fundraiser made a decent amount of money. Plus a bunch of people adopted some of the animals from the shelter, so I think we can chalk this up as a win." He smirked. "Also Idris adopted a kitten."

Jeff blinked. "He what now?"

Smiling, Jensen stepped in to stand aside Jeff's thighs as he leaned down to kiss him. "He took the little tabby one. He named her Malibu."

"Solid choices all around," Jeff said mildly. Too sleepy and disoriented to process the idea of Idris with a tiny fluffy cat, he instead focused his attention on Jensen who was very helpfully blocking out the sun. "What time is it?"

"Nearly six thirty." Lowering himself down to perch on Jeff's lap, he scritched his fingers through his hair and kissed him on the lips again. "You wanna go get some dinner?"

More out of instinct than conscious effort, Jeff's hands shifted down to curl around Jensen's ass. He really hoped there weren't any impressionable children hanging around to watch him grope his boyfriend.

"Or we could just head back to my place?" Jensen offered with a grin.

Jeff wasn't really awake enough to be making these kind of important decisions.

"C'mon, man," Jensen said. "Not that I don't enjoy looking at you but I don't think this relationship's gonna work out if you go non-verbal."

"I'm verbal." His voice was scratchy with sleep but having Jensen in his lap was going a long way towards waking him up. "Can I choose all of the above? We'll head to your place and get dinner there."

"I could go for that."

With one final kiss, Jensen rose to his feet, tugging Jeff up with him. The sun seemed less hostile as it ducked behind the trees at the edge of Jared's yard and Jeff smiled at the feel of Jensen's fingers linking with his as they walked back up to the house.

Bisou greeted them with a yap and some enthusiastic pawing as Jared wandered up behind her. Rhubarb was snoozing happily in Jared's arms and Jeff watched his paws twitch when Jared asked, "You guys taking off?"

"Yep," Jensen said around a yawn. "I think we could both use some sleep."

Jared flashed them a knowing grin. "I bet you could."

"Shut up." Jensen smacked him on the arm but Jeff didn't miss the flush that crept up his cheeks. "You already did the 'I told you so's."

"I'm a gifted matchmaker, what can I say?" He rubbed his knuckles over the soft fur on Rhubarb's belly and peered down to where Bisou was looking between the three of them, clearly angling from her own belly rubs. "You taking her with you or do you want to let her crash here another night? I think Sadie likes having a partner in crime."

"We'll take her," Jeff said, retrieving her lead from the table. Bisou gave a full-body wag as he clipped it onto her collar, rubbing her face happily against his knee, and Jeff obligingly scritched behind her ears. "You been a good girl for Jared?"

The cupcake crumbs on her fur suggested otherwise but Jeff gave her another pat before standing up to take Jensen's hand again. Jensen leaned into him, tired but smiling, and after a quick wave to Jared, the three of them headed back out to Jensen's place.

The sky was reddening above them as the sun dipped low for the evening. Bisou gamboled happily around their ankles, pausing to sniff at every tree trunk she found interesting, and Jeff leaned in to drop a kiss on Jensen's temple. "I'm glad you decided to give this a shot."

The sunlight lit Jensen's hair amber as he looked up at him, a far cry from the drenched, shivering kid he'd picked up by the roadside a few weeks earlier. He looked tired but satisfied and a smile played on his lips when he gave Jeff's hand a quick squeeze. "Me too."


End file.
